Children’s Trust to lead discussion on measures of child well-being for Lowcountry children and families
Children’s Trust, in partnership with East Cooper Community Outreach and East Cooper Ecumenical Network, will gather Lowcountry organizations and leaders for a discussion on childhood poverty. More than 30 leaders from the public and private sectors are expected to attend.
The meeting will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 25 at Roper St. Francis Mount Pleasant Hospital, 3500 Highway 17 North, Mount Pleasant.
More than 25 percent of children in Charleston County live below the federal poverty level and almost 20 percent are living in areas of concentrated poverty. South Carolina ranks 45 in the nation in child well-being, behind neighboring states Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina, according to KIDS COUNT.
Megan Branham, policy and government liaison for Children’s Trust, will lead a discussion of county-level 2013 KIDS COUNT data and facilitate conversations on economic child well-being, health, education, and family and community. Similar discussion are being held in communities across the state. Participants will engage in small “conversation clusters” of four to five people to foster collaborative dialogue and active engagement and to find opportunities for community action.
“When community leaders come together to look at how children are doing in their communities, those conversations can lead to real and lasting changes,” says Branham. “We’ve been honored to be part of these conversations across the state, and we’ve seen the encouraging movement in building strong communities that help strengthen families.”
Children’s Trust is home to KIDS COUNT South Carolina. KIDS COUNT, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is a national state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States. By providing policy makers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being, KIDS COUNT seeks to enrich local, state, and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all our children.
Media representatives are invited to attend and participate.
Media contact
Bett Williams
Director of Content Marketing and Communications
bwilliams@scchildren.org
Work 803-744-4042
Cell 803-730-3277